Tim Cassedy

Office hours, spring 2018:

Wednesdays, 10:00–12:00
or by appointment

Figures of Speech: Six Histories of Language and Identity in the Age of Revolutions

forthcoming from University of Iowa Press, fall 2018

Language played an important role at the turn of the nineteenth century as a marker of identity. During this time of revolution and globalization, language served as a way to categorize people within a world that appeared more diverse than ever. Linguistic differences — especially among English-speakers — seemed to validate the emerging national, racial, local, and regional identity categories that were taking shape.

Focusing on six eccentric characters — from the woman known as “Princess Caraboo” to lexicographer Noah Webster — Figures of Speech shows how perceptions about who spoke what language — and how they spoke it — helped English-speakers make sense of their rapidly globalizing world.

projects, teaching, and research

early American literature and culture, the history of reading, 18th-century British and American literature